Does “internalized homophobia” still matter?

One of the most widely studied topics in the decades of research on LGBT health has been the concept of "internalized homophobia." Although definitions of IH differ somewhat depending on the theorist, the concept generally refers to the internalization of society's homophobic attitudes within a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) person. Over the years, researchers have found internalized homophobia to correlate with a variety of psychological, behavioral, and medical outcomes like depression, substance use, and sexual behaviors that put one at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Research on internalized homophobia and sexual risk taking began in the late 1980s in the midst of the HIV/AIDS crisis centered in the gay community. The goal was to understand how anti-gay stigma and victimization affect the health and behaviors of sexual minorities. Ultimately the hope was to use this understanding to help prevent HIV transmission. Since that time many studies have been published on this topic, but the results have been inconsistent.

My graduate student Michael Newcomb (lead author) and I recently published a paper in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior using an approach called meta-analysis. This approach uses statistics to combine findings across many studies and also lets you test for factors that may explain differences in findings between studies. Our meta-analysis included 16 studies representing research on nearly 3,000 men.

Overall we found a very small relationship between internalized homophobia and sexual risk taking (correlation = .10, p = .053). Most interestingly, we found that the correlation got significantly smaller over time (correlation dropped .02 for every year since 1988) to the extent it is likely to be negligible today. We suggest that negative attitudes towards being gay/bisexual were more important in terms of sexual orientation in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a time when HIV/AIDS was less treatable, carried more stigma, and was more linked to the gay community than it is today. Acceptance of the gay community has also increased during these years. This does not of course negate the reality that LGBT people still face discrimination and harassment.

Based on these findings we suggest that researchers should begin focusing their efforts elsewhere instead of continuing to test the direct association between internalized homophobia and sexual risk taking in gay men. However, internalized homophobia may have more complex association with sexual risk taking or may be important in terms of other health outcomes. We are currently completing a meta-analysis on the relationship between internalized homophobia and mental health and I will report out findings when they come out.

years ago, in my peer counseling, we thought of IH more in terms of gays who project their own self-hatred & persecute other gays.
while your national stats are encouraging, if you need a current IH population, just go to the Buffalo NY chatroom on gay.com
the gays who didnt flee the nonexistent economy or the overarching uber roman catholic culture here are mind-bogglingly rotten to each other and needless to say, theres no real community, socially politically or economically
and i have plenty of anecdotal evidence that sexual risk taking here is quite high, especially given the partying culture here that was more representative of gay life back in the 70s
just thought you should know that, sadly, IH is alive and well
flourishing even
in a town that, gay or straight, worships the status quo
its all about the local demographics, despite the hopeful national trend
there is still much work to do.

For a new slant on homophobia, please read my latest post on the subject which turns out to be a secular challenge to gay America in the form of 3 practical questions. John W. McAlister. Ethical Universe

IH continues to be at the roots of other behavioural and psychological issues. The over emphasis on sexual risk taking & HI is largely sensational and associated with high levels of funding because of the pharma industries involvement with HIV treatment development. However HI & SH (social homophobia) remain cutting edge and very definitive subjects for the new century.
For example;
1. The effects of IH on the very young & adolescent and how that carries into adulthood and contributes to the formation of sexuality.
2. The contribution of IH to continually high suicide rates among LBGT populations.
3. The contribution of IH to specific psychiatric diagnosis found in LBGT populations.
4. The project of continuing to map the correlation between SH (social homophobia) & IH as LBGT struggle for rights takes root in the developing world.
5. The social phenomena of the right to gay marriage and gay adoption and the issues of both SH & IH as these begin to take hold culturally and change the shape of our society.

The list is seemingly endless. This is historically a neglected but broad area of research which is also subject to prejudice from within the field. There is still much that is not mapped out. over emphasis in one (often financially over incentivized )area can be detrimental to gaining knowledge of the broader perspective which is still something that is needed.